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Walpurgisnacht

Berlin is heating up in anticipation of Labour Day tomorrow (May 1st) when streets will be turned into riot-zones with cars burnt, shop windows smashed up, and all sorts of missiles being flung at police.It's a public holiday so everyone is off work, leading me to wonder why it's called Labour Day at all. Surely it should be called No-Labour Day.

Organised protests and demonstrations are a handy excuse for carnage, and every year the police set up barricades which are charged before the obligatory riots begin. Whatever your poison, there's probably a group for you to join. Anti-capitalists, anti-globalisation, anti-police, anti-everything...Far right neo-nazis will demonstrate for their "rights". Anti-nazis will demonstrate against them and stoop to their level by fighting them too. After kicking the shit out of each other they will probably join forces and fight the police. It perhaps ironic on Labour Day that most of those protestors neither have nor want jobs.

Leave them off. I'm not complaining. The holiday means I've a day off college, and I'll be enjoying a few evening beers in the park tonight with some German buddies for what I just found out this morning is Walpurgisnacht(Walpurgis Night). This is the night witches roam the earth apparently, and huge bonfires are lit (either to attract them or keep them away). It's also the anniversary of Hitler's suicide, leading to some occult initiations, whatever the hell they are.Anyway, Mauerpark is the place to go for beer drinking, music and bonfires apparently, although I just see now that this is where the "traditional leftist Mayday riots usually start". Hmmm, it promises to be an interesting night...